Albert Hillsborough
Albert Hillsborough is a fourteen-year-old African-American student in charge of food, water, and work in Perdido Beach. He is considered by many to be the most powerful person in the FAYZ. He later retreats to the luxurious island of San Francisco de Sales for a short period of time to escape the chaos that would following the dome going dark. He is a true "businessman" despite his young age, and is clever and powerful. However, he can be selfish and somewhat of a coward. In addition, he is the inventor of the official currency of the FAYZ, until they start to become worthless in Fear. He is known for his wealth and enterprising Albert's previous fame in the FAYZ was being the "owner" of the only McDonald's restaurant in the town-which he ran until it ran out of supplies, at which point it was renamed to the McClub, and was turned into a place where kids could dance and enjoy themselves. Albert continued to run it like this until the power was turned off. Albert was a very responsible boy and faced many horrible things. He encountered a ferocious teleporting cat that gave him wounds and sort of admires Astrid's smart mind. His first idea for a money system for the FAYZ is to use some gold bars he finds in Hermit Jim's Cabin. He melts these into bullets, calling them 'units'. Albert, with help from Howard, renames the currency he invents as the 'Berto. The standard salary in FAYZ as of Lies is about 3-5 Bertos per day, but some of the people in FAYZ who got a more important job, like Sam, receive larger sums. Before the FAYZ Albert is mentioned by Howard Bassem as one of several African-American students in Perdido Beach, and as always having his nose in a book. It's implied he was a loner, with few friends. Albert's mother had a back problem and was forced to use a wheelchair. He was the youngest of six kids, and the cook of the family, alongside his older sister Rowena. This is due to his mother's inability to cook herself. Appearances Gone Albert Hillsborough is first introduced in Gone when he takes over McDonald's and starts cooking food for the kids of Perdido Beach. He is the first to realize the need for kids to work to survive. Researching this in the library, he is attacked by a teleporting cat, which eventually became known as Albert's Cat. This cat teleports around the room, and is eventually killed when it teleports into the encyclopedia Albert uses to defend himself. Later, Albert organizes a giant Thanksgiving feast after the Thanksgiving battle. Hunger By Hunger, Albert is quickly being recognized as a powerful figure in the FAYZ. He opens the Albert's McClub when the McDonald's runs out of food, letting people dance in return for toilet paper or batteries - both things that will soon be in short supply. He helps Quinn start a fishing business, and Sam directs Howard to Albert to sort out Orc's work. Later in the book, he travels with Quinn, Cookie, and Lana to Hermit Jim's Shack to retrieve the gold to make money. He and Quinn are the first to find out that Lana is missing, and rush back to town to tell Sam. Lies Albert is now part of the Town Council and one of the most powerful people in the FAYZ. The currency he creates using gold bullets and McDonald's game pieces (called 'Bertos by Howard), becomes the official currency of Perdido Beach and allows kids to earn money for the work they do in the fields as well as spend their pay at the market or for other reasons. During the novel, he initially supports Astrid in her plan of lying to the townies to protect them from Orsay and forcing Sam to listen to the Council more. Plague By Plague, he has a full staff including a bodyguard (Jamal), a maid (Leslie-Ann), and the services of several former Human Crew members, including Turk and Lance. Albert controls all of the food and water, and is considered even more powerful than Sam. This position has gained him many enemies, including Turk and Lance. While the town is in chaos over the plague, Turk and Lance attack him in his home, shooting him in the face and leaving him for dead before they loot his house. Leslie-Ann, hearing off his death, goes to his house to look for food, but finds him barely alive instead. Howard gets Lana to save his life. At the end of the book, Albert chooses to stay with Caine in Perdido Beach, saying, "Sam is a weak leader." But really, he is on his own side because he doesn't fully work under Caine's authority or Sam's. He trades food and water between the lake and Perdido Beach. Fear When the town begins to fall apart under Caine's rule, Albert takes three of his people to San Francisco de Sales Island, abandoning the residents of the FAYZ to live a life of comfort. He brings with him the missiles that Sam left near the power plant, in case anyone tries to get to the island. He even locks down the food so that nobody without his permission can get the food. During the beginning of the conflicts in Fear, the 'Berto which until now has been the currency in FAYZ, starts to lose its value, and at one point in the book the kids goes back to the old exchangement trading system where they exchange an item for another item. It is currently unknown if the 'Bertos totally lose their value, or if they regain their value as the currency. Light In Light, Albert is still at the San Francisco de Sales Island with Pug, Leslie-Ann and Alicia. Albert is regretting that he ran away from Perdido Beach, because when the wall goes down, no one will remember him for making the economy in the FAYZ work, everyone will just remember his cowardly escape at the end. He then gets a visit from Quinn Gaither, who persuades Albert to return to Perdido Beach in order to restore food production. Albert considers this as an opportunity to also restore his reputation. He returns to Perdido Beach smoking a cigar and puts up signs in front of the barrier, where he says that everyone has to work, and lets the cameramen on the outside take lots of pictures of him. Albert is one of the first to leave the FAYZ, where McDonald's offers to pay for his college education if he lets them interview him in front of the McDonalds in the FAYZ. Albert has a nervous breakdown when the crew wants to remove the Plaza's grave yard, which they think is a fake. He explains to them that the graveyard is not fake and goes on to explain how kids really did die in the FAYZ. After stunning the crew Albert takes a few deep breaths and continues with the interview. Relationships Sam Although Albert and Sam disagreed often, they seemed to get along. Sam was quite genuine towards Albert throughout the book, although he may not have been that genuine back. Sam stopped him from doing many things including taking all the fish Quinn caught to himself, and when he just opened the McClub without permission, Sam had a dispute with him. Sam was reluctant to allow Albert to introduce a currency to the FAYZ as it would mean that some kids would have more than others, when Sam gave Albert permission the system was created and as Sam predicted it did mean that Albert had more resources than the other children in the FAYZ. Quinn Quinn and Albert throughout all the books seemed to be there for each other, whenever necessary. An example of this is when Quinn caught the fish, Albert told him he would try to preserve it as well as sell it. Quinn as well as Albert seemed to be on their own team for a few time throughout the book, especially when they both disagreed with Sam about various issues. Caine Albert never really spoke much of Caine, although he had not had to throughout the book. It is assumed that he hated both Drake, Diana and Caine, however this may have changed when Caine came to Perdido Beach in the later books. Alicia It is described in the books that Albert has somewhat of a crush on Alicia. she is originally from the Coates Crew and has drifted around a few other groups as well, Albert describes her as untrustworthy, but very useful. He takes her to San Francisco de Sales Island along with Pug and Leslie-Ann. he then leaves the island, and only takes Alicia along with him, abandoning Pug and Leslie-Ann. Category:Town Council Category:Characters Category:Perdido Beach side Category:People allied with Perdido Beach Category:Survivors